It is known that during production the above mentioned textile products undergo such treatments as to give them a desired aspect. In particular, socks undergo a treatment of semi-boarding or of thermal boarding. In order to perform this semi-boarding, the articles are fed on to and held taut by special shapes and then subject to a pressing treatment, in some cases preceded by a steaming treatment of the articles to be treated. Sometimes the semi-boarding treatment is combined with a boarding treatment by means of pressurised steam.
Automatic boarding or semi-boarding machines currently known are substantially composed of a turntable, around the edge of which are positioned fitting shapes, which the articles are fed on to and by which they are held taut. The rotation of the turntable takes the articles fed on to the shapes to a steaming station and successively to a semi-boarding station in which suitable pressing means operate. In a different version of the machine the semi-boarding treatment is accomplished by means of boarding with pressurised steam, provided by a suitable autoclave, and by means of a successive drying phase with hot air. The articles are then extracted from the boarding shapes and sent onto the subsequent packaging phases.
Boarding shapes are preferably solid shapes of a metallic material, most commonly aluminium, and shaping at the toe the foot contour.
The fitting of the boarding shapes in a position rigidly defined on the turntable of the semi-boarding machine considerably limits the operation of the machine itself. In fact all shapes move simultaneously and in the same step, which is defined by the loading phase of the articles on to the shapes. Normally the turntable proceeds in a single or multiple step in the machines that realize the semi-boarding phase by means of pressing, while in the machines provided with boarding by pressurised steam the turntable proceeds in double step at least, i.e. moving in each step two shapes to each station, in order to obtain a sufficient stay of the articles in the autoclave.
This functional rigidity is in contrast with the current productive requests, concerning the maximum flexibility for the different textile articles to be treated, and can affect the ergonomics of the machine, as the operator has to accomplish the loading of two different shapes.
Moreover the known boarding or semi-boarding machines show a complex and expensive structure, caused by the need to realise the different operational phases in positions where operational members are moved rotationally. The circular structure of the turntable also produces a considerable space occupied and, as a consequence, limits the number of shapes.